Aussie, Kiwi and South Pacific Atheists

Breaking News! After successfully challenging the Commonwealth government in the High Court of Australia over funding for the National School Chaplaincy Scheme, Ron Williams is to take them on again. In an attempt to circumvent the High Court ruling, the government has passed some extremely questionable legislation which tears at the heart of parliamentary democracy and public accountability. Williams has consulted with his crack legal team and the decision has been made today (Saturday, 7 July) to mount another challenge.

Mounting a High Court challenge is extremely expensive and Ron Williams is just an average, suburban Dad. If all of us who care about a secular, democratic Australia can chip in as much as we can, it will help enormously. Please consider donating at:

This is your chance to be a part of making Australian Constitutional history!

Embiggen Books - Your Australian Atheist/Skeptical Bookshop

Embiggen Books, an Australian bookstore devoted to promoting science, philosophy, rationalism and skepticism is now on Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. Warren Bonett and Kirsty Bruce of Embiggen are also passionate and active members of the atheist and skeptical communities.

Australian Atheist Issues

For new members, if you want to get a grasp of some of the issues effecting atheists in Australia, you might like to take a look at the Atheist Nexus (Australia) submission on "Freedom of Religion and Belief in the 21st Century" made to the Australian Human Rights Commission early last year. It's long, but easy reading, and worth spending some time on. A report, using information compiled from submissions, should be released later this year.

Atheist Meetup Groups - Australia

If you'd like to meet up with some local atheists, there's no better way than joining your local Atheist Meetup, Skeptics, or Freethought Groups:

It's unsurprising that political leaders would want to convince people that the true criminals are those who expose acts of high-level
political corruption and criminality, rather than those who perpetrate
them. Every political leader would love for that self-serving piety to
take hold. But what's startling is how many citizens and, especially,
"journalists" now vehemently believe that as well.

The vast bulk of the outrage has been devoted not to the crimes that have been exposed but rather to those who exposed them: WikiLeaks
and (allegedly) Bradley Manning.

In light of what WikiLeaks has revealed to the world about numerous governments, just fathom the authoritarian mindset that would lead a
citizen -- and especially a "journalist" -- to react with anger that
these things have been revealed; to insist that these facts should have
been kept concealed and it'd be better if we didn't know; and, most of
all, to demand that those who made us aware of it all be punished
(the True Criminals) while those who did these things
(The Good Authorities) be shielded.

Printed below are just some of the truths that led WikiLeaks -- and whoever the leaker(s) is -- to sacrifice their own
interests in order to disclose these secrets to the world.

TRANSLATION: U.S. maneuvered to stop High Court cases: American embassy issued threats over the cases of 'Guantanamo', 'Couso'
and 'CIA flights' - Politicians and Spanish prosecutors collaborated on
the strategy

Thanks for swinging by Rigbyt. A friend was chatting via messenger saying that she was reading my comments. After a while I figured out that they'd actually printed three of my comments from yesterday in today's paper. I'm in print! :) Only one American bigot comment got in. They printed my old testament jokes!

First, what science and what standard? You just throw that out casually with no references whatsoever to peer reviewed studies from credible scientific or medical journals.

*All* sexual behaviour carries risks. It may be true that anal sex carries a higher risk of transmission for some diseases, but a) not all same-sex couples (not even all male same-sex couples) have anal sex, b) many heterosexual couples enjoy anal sex and c) most risks can be managed or prevented.

And since when do we decide whether or not to recognize one's right to marry based on the health risks of the participants? The major cause of deaths in Australia are cardiovascular diseases, cancer, injury and respiratory diseases - all of which may be related to obesity. A recent large US study showed that married people are more likely to become obese than single people, or even people living together. By your reasoning, as marriage is linked with obesity which causes serious health problems, we shouldn't let anyone marry.

Heterosexual sex comes with the risk of pregnancy, that's a pretty big health risk in itself!

I have more respect for outright bigots than those who choose to hide their bigotry behind 'science' and false reasoning.

Done the best I can. Most 'science' on gay sexual health seem to be put out by the Catholic Church - what a surprise! Also, much of the research (at least that available online) is very dated. Have attacked the reasoning rather than the science (as he provides no links).